The Richmond area’s traffic congestion is holding steady, with the average driver wasting about 20 hours per year, according to a national traffic study released today.

Metro says it fired 38 bus drivers last year for drug and alcohol violations, and three more have been dismissed so far this year.

Drivers will face a new set of choices tomorrow as they exit Route 288 for Midlothian Turnpike.

ROANOKE File this under Ideas That Seemed Good at the Time: On a late November whim, River Laker decided to sell his old Volvo station wagon to see if he could survive with a bicycle for six months. Only after the car was gone did he realize he was heading into the cold of winter. Since then, fellow Roanokers have watched the 42-year-old Laker, known around town as the Carless Brit (he’s from Folkestone in Great Britain), pedal through blowing ice and bitter winds, frigid temperatures and frosty mornings. His hands have nearly frozen on the handlebars, and his face has stung as if pocked with a dozen fresh pink dueling scars.